Work Song by Bobby Darin Bass Cover Tab

Someone recently asked for this tab and I was surprised to see that I had not already posted it here long ago. This is Bobby Darin doing a live-for-television haunting version of "Work Song" that features only his vocal over electric bass & drums. This is so much better than his studio version from years earlier.





OK, that's the song and now here is my video of playing bass along to it:



I have to make my usual disclaimer that in this video I did not play the exact same notes as in the song. As is usually the case, I take many of the ideas used in songs and then I add some things here and there. If I were to play the entire song I would have played it note for note. But since I only did a small portion I wanted to show what could be done with it.

This song modulates up a couple of times but I only tabbed out the part I played in its initial key of D minor. So you can play the same part when the song modulates by just moving up the right number of frets as necessary. Here it is:

G  :------------------|--------------------|-------------------|
D  :------------------|---5---5-6-7--------|------------5---5-6|
A  :-------5----5-8---|-8-----------7----5-|---5-8----8--------|
E  :--5-8-------------|---------------5----|-------------------|

G  :-----------------------|---------------5-7---|--------------------|
D  :7-----7----------------|---5---5-6-7-7-------|----------5-6-7----7|
A  :--7-----7---5----5-8---|-8-----------------5-|---5-8--8-----------|
E  :----5-----5------------|---------------------|--------------------|

G  :6-9-6---7----7-----|-----------7--------|--------------------|
D  :------7--------7--5|-------5-7---7-6--5-|---5-----3---5------|
A  :-------------------|--5-----------------|-----5-5---5---0-2-0|
E  :-------------------|--------------------|--------------------|

G  :------------------|--------------------|-----------------|
D  :-------------7---7|7-6-5----5----5-6-7-|7-5--------------|
A  :3-0-4-0-5---------|------------5-------|-----8--4--5-----|
E  :------------------|--------------------|--------------5--|

G  :----------------|
D  :----------------|
A  :3--4--5---------|
E  :----------------|


So there you have it. To you who asked for it, I hope you find it useful.

Now Until Then

I have an upright string bass (or double bass) that I don't use much in my recordings because I haven't gotten down how to play without frets yet. It is my own fault because I rarely practice playing it. But occasionally I do use it and there are at least 2 recordings of mine that feature it. It is also a very hard instrument to record well. I hear these modern jazz recordings and the double bass just sounds so rich and deep. Of course, it could have something to do with the fact that mine is an $800 Chinese made instrument, while theirs are most likely vintage and cost thousands of dollars.

Here is a song titled, "Now Until Then," which I made in 2011. I was just fingerpicking away at my nylon string classical guitar and I came up with something I thought interesting so I recorded it and used it as the basis for this song. It features 2 classical guitar parts, a drum track and a double bass track. (I don't like referring to it as 'double bass' because drummers also have something they call a 'double bass.' So in order to avoid any confusion from here on out I will refer to the 4 string acoustic double bass as upright acoustic bass or just upright bass.)

This song has elements of jazz, folk and even classical. I wouldn't know how to categorize it. Actually most of my music is very hard to categorize. This one is no exception. Listen to it and decide for yourself:




I am leaning towards more instrumental music not only because it is more universal but also because it is very difficult for me to sing and whenever I do vocal tracks I end up doing so many takes and edits. It requires the most amount of time compared to any other instrument I record.

Well, here is another similar type recording. This one was made several years ago and pretty much fits the same arrangement as "Now Until Then." The exception being that steel string acoustic guitar tracks replace the nylon string guitar ones. Drums and upright bass are both here as well. This recording was really just an improvisation. I did not set out to make an actual song. I was just laying down some ideas, especially concerning the rhythm acoustic guitar. So the songs starts off well but really breaks down about midway through or later. I don't even really have an official title for it. But I will record an official version of it at some point.

This is one of those recordings that would not normally see the light of day, but I include it here because it has some interesting elements:




I am interested in acoustic music and would like to record a whole album just of acoustic string instruments. Would be nice to have a resonator guitar and also a banjo. But I'll make do with what I have for now.